Welcome to Kansas where your humble host is glad to not be. Not because I'd rather be at home than at a track - oh, heavens no - but because Kansas seems to be always be place where Mother Nature has her huge hissy fits or meteorological fury.

Last year there were tornadoes all around the track, and this week there's been lots of rain. Might even be a little on the chilly side according to the braintrust at TrackSide Online. Hopefully the track will stay dry for today's race, as the qualifications

(Meanwhile, here in Arizona it's Chamber of Commerce weather. Sunny, clear, high in the 70s. If anyone wants to have an IndyCar race here instead...I know, I'm beating dead horse here.)

But the weather right now looks clear in Kansas, and if qualifications are any indication we might have a fun race, since cars from Panther, Newman-Haas-no Lanigan, and FAZZT (yes, FAZZT) were all qualifying in the front rows. Wheldon however was penalized for going below the white line in quals so he gets to start in the back fully enraged.

But Briscoe is on the pole, Milka is starting in the back, and somewhere Nicole Manske is getting her "#parkmilka" ready for today today. And with that, it's time to start.

0: Marty Reid just said "It is the Month of May". Technically, yes, but "The Month of May" proper doesn't start until Donald Davidson's "Talk of Gasoline Alley" is back on the airwaves. I'm calling today April 31st.

0: Ryan Hunter-Reay is being interviewed. He has some issues about something (contract? car?) but I can't focus because the ubiquitous IZOD Girl is standing behind him smiling encouragingly at me. Yes, me. And I'm suddenly feeling very calm.

0: I miss Jack Arute on these ESPN/ABC broadcasts. Rick DeBruhl just doesn't have the same level of passion or the probability for unintentional comedy. Might was well have a robot out there.

0: Marty Reid just said he was going to introduce us to "Silvester de Simona". Oh, COLOSSAL FAIL!

0: Obligatory Danica interview. ESPN loves the Danicker. However, the interview serves as a transition to a package on...Simona. Har!

0: Vintage Indy 500 footage breaks out. Unsers, Andretti, Wheldon. This is even more re-assuring than the IZOD Girl.

0: Some anonymous woman (to me) commands "Drivers! Start Your Engines!" Nice job, except for the shoulder shrug afterwards.

0: Dan Wheldon is the "in-car commentator". Dan starts talking about the great car and...he stalls it. Note: "in-car commentator" is rarely a good idea.

0: First oval in an IndyCar for Sato, Simona, Baguette and Romancini, although Mario Romancini has race in the Indy Lights. Then again, he also put the car in the wall in practice.

0: John Andretti, sporting classic Petty colors, gets air. Meanwhile Briscoe and Dixon lead them to the line.

1: And we are GREEN! And cars are moving around going three-wide and life is worth living again.

2: Marco Andretti, who started in 26th, ais already up to 19th. Must be that Venom Energy Drink sponsor.

4: Conway and Mutoh are shown battling for 6th. On ESPN. There's nothing real in the world anymore.

5: It's Briscoe, Dixon, Dario, Helio, Vitor. Meira is already winless in 101 races

8: Hyphen-Reay started near the back but he's already up to 13th. Marco is up to 15th. It's a festival of overtaking!

12: Just noticed KVRT teammates Moraes and Viso are 8th and 9th respectively. Wonder if ESPN will mention them.

13: Dixon gets a little lose and loses 2nd to Dario. Franchitti has the Suave sponsorship this week to celebrate his glorious locks.

18: Danica is in 14th with Rafa Matos and John Andretti chasing her for position. How do I say that without making it sound like a double entendre?

21: Dixon gets back around Dario. Meanwhile that Top 5 of Briscoe, Dixon, Dario, Vitor, and Helio have about a two second lead on everyone else. Vitor, hanging with the big boys!

24: Ryan Hunter-Reay is up to 10th. Marco up to 11th. Kanaan in 7th. Andretti Autosport brigade is blaring trumpets and are on the charge.

28: Dixon is trying to go two-wide for the lead while trying to lap Romancini. Racing excitement engaged.

34: Back from commercial and Scott Dixon is now leading. Pass for the lead has to be shown on tape delay. Not quite as exciting.

40: Leaders are lapping plenty of drivers. Wilson, Milka, Simona, Lloyd and Romancini are all a lap down. Next up is Wheldon, who clearly doesn't have the same car he had yesterday.

42: And there goes Dixon by Wheldon.

43: Dixon is starting to make this less than interesting. He leads Briscoe and Dario by over 4 seconds. Helio 8 seconds back. Vitor 9 seconds back.

49: Pit stops for Briscoe, Kanaan, Helio, Dixon. Without incident.

50: Now Dario comes in. Must be saving a wee bit more fuel than the other leaders.

50: Will Power comes in and has an extended stay pit stop. Too far from the middle of the pit stall to get the fuel hose in completely. Crikey!

55: After all the stops it's Dixon, Dario, Briscoe, Helio, Vitor. Kanaan 6th. Hunter-Reay 7th.

58: Penalty of some sort for Viso on the pit stop. Now he's back to 18th. Dammit. So much for that interesting run.

65: Good news - Vitor is getting airtime in 5th. Bad news - he's 14 seconds back of the lead.

68: Mutoh and Sato battling for 11th. And here I am caught without any Godzilla references at the ready.

69: Danica, in 14th, about to be lapped by Dixon.

71: Down goes Danica. Next up is Marco.

72: Scott Dixon is the opposite of racing excitement. There, I said it.

73: YELLOW! Viso, clearly desperate for TV time, gets a little high and scrapes the wall. Manages to get the car into the pits though.

75: Pit stops for everyone. In and out and the leaders are now Dixon, Dario, Briscoe, Helio, Vitor. Hunter-Reay now up to 6th in a demonstrable plea for additional sponsorship to run the full season.

75: Chaos at the back of the field as Duno and Sato touch and drive each other into the grass. No wall contact though so they might be able to continue.

76: Ryan Briscoe is missing a wheel. That ain't gonna work. Has to come in get a fourth, dropping for 11th.

80: Interview with EJ. Poor guy.

82: Something must have happened to Vitor. Dixon, Dario, Helio, Kanaan and Hunter-Reay now lead the field.

84: Back to GREEN!

85: 16 cars on the lead lap. Danica is not one of them. But she's still getting airtime. Go figure.

89: Tagliani in 6th, Vitor right behind him. Hope springs eternal for the underdogs.

96: John Andretti is 9th. He's...not too bad at this IndyCar thing.

98: Hunter-Reay keeps looking to get a run on Kanaan but he can't. So we are lock-steppin' up at the front.

103: Danica, a lap down, throwing a big 'ol block party for Helio all around the track. Even Scott Goodyear calls that "bad etiquette".

108: Helio still struggling to get around Danica. Goodyear says "When he gets beside her he's got to hold her down..." Oh my!

109: Danica finally lets Helio by. And Kanaan as well for good measure. Must have heard from the Iron Hand of Justice.

113: Something must have happened to Hunter-Reay, as he's dropped back behind Tagliani and Mutoh. What it was, nobody knows.

114: And here's Danica making a pit stop. Really ESPN, this is embarrassing. Let go of the Danicker already.

119: YELLOW! Debris on the track. Looks like an endplate on the track so it's legit. Might have been thrown by Brian Barnhart himself, though. Just to keep things remotely interesting.

122: Pit stops for everyone. And on pit exit it's Dixon, Dario, Kanaan, Mutoh, Helio. Mutoh Mania rises to a near fever pitch.

127: So, exactly how long does it take to pick up an endplate on the track? It's been 8 laps, for crying out loud!

128: Finally, back to GREEN!

135: Lots of racing but not much passing, if that makes any sense. The Ganassi cars have already pulled away by almost a second from Kanaan. Try to act shocked.

143: And now it's two seconds between the Dixon-Dario combo and Kanaan. Meanwhile Briscoe is on the charge and working on Mutoh for 4th.

146: P1 just walked out of the room saying "Yeah for races that are boring". I would guess many of you watching this feel the same way.

151: Takuma Sato, reported "road course specialist", is up to 7th. Mutoh still in 4th. Japan is well represented this week.

155: Dixon-Dario ahead of Kanaan by 3.5 seconds. 45 laps to go and it's all over but the crying.

161: Final round of pit stops starting. Leaders not pitting yet. I know, that's not terribly helpful. Sorry.

165: Mutoh on the Push To Pass but he can't get around Kanaan. Insert Japanese swearing here.

170: Dixon now pulling ahead of Dario by two seconds, or so says Marty Reid. I can't verify it because Timing & Scoring is frozen at Lap 148 for me. Not very helpful.

175: Dixon ahead of Dario by almost 3 seconds now. Ahead of Kanaan by over 10 seconds. *sighs*

177: Kanaan and Mutoh both pit. Come out the same way they went in. Not even passing in the pits for those two.

178: Dixon pits and...YELLOW! Jay Howard has made contact with the wall. He seems OK, making hand gestures to the safety crew, but the car is missing the rear wing.

179: Replay shows Jay was behind teammate/boss Sarah Fisher and got a little too high. Or, based on the result, a lot too high.

180: Somehow in all this the leaders are now Dixon, Helio, Dario, Kanaan, Mutoh. Not sure how Helio snuck into second but there he is.

184: Finally, back to GREEN! And now YELLOW as Sato and Mutoh collide ending the proud run for Japan.

182: Ironically, if we finish under yellow it might actually be a closer margin of victory.

188: Still yellow. Big Jamie Little informs us that with 12 laps to go and Dixon has 18 Push To Pass tries left. Feel the anticipation of racing excitement leaving the building.

190: Only six cars on the lead lap. Dixon, Helio, Dario, Kanaan, Hunter-Reay, Briscoe. Pfffft.

193: And we're back to GREE...no, strike that. Waved it off.

194: And this time we're back to GREEN! Look at that Scott Dixon gooooooo!

196: Dario gets his Push To Pass on and gets around Helio for 2nd.

197: Here comes Kanaan up to Helio. Side-by-side (hooray!)

198: Kanaan got 'em.

199: White flag as Kanaan pulls up on Dario's attenuator.

200: And checkers for Dixon, as Franchitti holds off Kanaan for 2nd.

Congrats to Dixon, not for winning but for having a lovely wife who gleefully shares with us what Scott had for breakfast. Listening to her say "ba-nah-nah" is more exciting than watching him race. But that's just me.

Also, nice runs for Dario, Tony, Helio and the two Ryans. Hunter-Reay in 5th, now hanging in fourth place in the standings. I need to make like Scott Dixon and get moving in a hurry today, so with that I leave you all. Thank you very much, friends, and good night.

Welcome to Southern California where your humble host is LIVE on site for the 36th running of the Grand Prix of Long Beach. I've had a blast this weekend talking to race fans and now I'm going to sit down and bring this week's LiveBlog coverage from the spectacular vantage point of ...the basement of the media center.

Yes, it's the dirty little secret that when in the media the choices for covering the race are either (a) in the pits watching a TV monitor and not hearing anything or (b) sitting in a media center watching the VERSUS broadcast. I chose the latter since that's where the wi-fi is.

So today we have another street race, our third in four races, and who's on the pole but none other than Will Power. Not exactly shocking since his performance thusfar in 2010 has left everyone expecting him to run away with any street race. It's gotten so bad even Team Penske's Tim Cindric, on seeing Will running 4th on a practice session earlier this weekend, said coyly to Power "You sandbaging it out there today?"

But no matter, he's still gotta run the 85-lap race and Ryan Hunter-Reay, Justin Wilson and Power's teammates will be nipping at his heels. Or at least trying their best to nip at his heels.

And with that, it's time to start.

0: Cars are hot. Flyover conducted. TSO Patrick is sitting next to me chowing on some kind of Mexican meal. We are good to go.

0: One more lap to green. Curt Cavin is now down here. He's on the opposite side of the room with all those real media people, but I'm cool with that since I'm closer to "Leah" the hearing aid dog. She's staring at me, and with this Mexican food next to me I SWEAR I hear "You quiero Taco Bell".

1: And we are GREEN! Power leads the way but speaking of green Tony Kanaan jumps from 6th to 4th before the 1st turn. He's feeling the power of Brazilian fuel.

2: Power, Hunter-Reay, Wilson up front, but things get a little dicey around 9th as Tagliani cuts off Marco and appears to remove part of Andretti's front wingplate. Probably not the last piece of broken carbon fiber we'll see today.

4: The entire lap is run without any passes as the front three appear to separate from the pack. Did I mention Dixon and Franchitti are in 7th and 8th respectively. Somewhere Chip Ganassi is feeling unhappy and hugging a stuffed delta wing pillow.

6: Danica Patrick is in 20th. Even ESPN wouldn't be showing her that far back.

7: Milka Duno is at the back, 47 seconds off the pace. The lap times for the leaders are running around 71 seconds, and Milka is running 78 second laps. So she should get some TV airtime shortly.

10: Amazingly Ryan Hyphen-Reay is only 6 tenths of a second back of Power. There's a part of me that wonders if Power is sandbagging a bit conserving fuel here.

12: Milka is now 1 lap down, and since the leaders didn't pass here I'm guessing she had to make a pits stop before she became a factor.

14: Track feed shows Milka has been parked. In the pits with grooved tires now on the car. Somewhere Nicole Manske is doing a Snoopy Dance.

15: New last place car is Bertrand Baguette, 29 seconds back. If he plays his cards right this will be the only time I mention him all day.

18: Power appears to be slowing dramatically - like he missed a gear - and so Hunter-Reay and Wilson go right around him. Meanwhile, when no one was looking, Briscoe got around Helio for 5th.

20: IZOD poster boy Hunter-Reay is rocketing away and is now 1.5 seconds ahead of Wilson. Now would be a good time to mention that I'm currently wearing IZOD jeans. For real. Gotta represent the title sponsor.

21: Just checked the leaderboard. Power is still in 3rd but Dario, who's usually pretty tough on these street race deals, has dropped to 11th. Asheley can't blame that on Milka this week.

24: Here comes the strategy. Danica, Rafa and Simona all make pit stops.

25: Rafa pays the price as Hunter-Reay laps him after pit exit.

26: Dario pits. Sato pits. That can only mean one thing - he's still in the race. Other cars pit as well.

27: Finally a leader pits as Wilson makes a stop. Cleans stop, comes out on the blacks.

28: Hunter-Reay pits meaning Will Power once again leads. In and out like a professional.

29: LLoyd and Sato mix it up and Sato goes sideways into a runoff. Looks like Takuma didn't stall it so he's still racing. Meanwhile Kanaan and Helio made a pit stops.

30: Power finally pits, along with Briscoe and Tagliani. T&S indicates they were the last three to make a stop.

31: Televised overtaking breaks out as Kanaan gets around Briscoe and Helio makes a move to pass Tagliani. Top 5 are now Hunter-Reay, Wilson, Kanaan, Power, Briscoe.

32: Mario Moraes in 9th. Really? Not too shabby.

32: It's a celebration of televised overtaking, as Briscoe passes Kanaan for third and then Kanaan passes him right back a turn later through turns 4 and 5. Hooray for racing!

35: I've hear the N****R race in Texas was rained out today. Hopefully VERSUS - who graciously gave a group of IndyCar fans a tour of their trucks today - will benefit with a ratings bump. Hope springs eternal.

37: The Big Hyphen leads Wilson by over 2 seconds and Kanaan and Briscoe by over 7 seconds. Smell ya later, dudes.

38: I can't hear the VERSUS commentary, so if when Jack Arute says something memorable I'm going to be totally oblivious. My viewing is not enhanced.

40: Hunter-Reay, Wilson, Power, Kanaan, Briscoe. Simona 17th, Danica 18th for those who are interested.

43: Haven't had a yellow flag yet. Shades of Homestead in '09.

44: First to last on the track is a 48 second differential, so we aren't likely to see any lapped traffic come in to play.

46: Tagliani makes what's likely an unscheduled pit stop. Must not have gotten fully fueled on his first stop since it seemed like he only got more ethanol.

48: Evidently T&S was wrong since Hunter-Reay is now all up on Alex Lloyd and about to lap him. Meanwhile Wilson is closing on Hunter-Reay. Oh, the drama!

51: Wilson has caught Hunter-Reay, who is still battling to get around Lloyd. In fairness to Alex, he's running well and not exactly blocking.

53: And...finally Hunter-Reay gets around Lloyd. Wilson tries to duck underneath and OUCH Lloyd cuts him off and folds up Wilson's front wing. Oh, that's gonna be a pitstop.

54: Lloyd may have a cut tire as well as both he and Wilson pit. Dreyer & Reinbolds Larry Curry is shouting and finger-pointing at an official right now.

55: Hunter-Reay, Power, Kanaan, Dixon, Helio.

56: Pitstops for what seems like all the leaders so I have no idea who's leading. Maybe Dixon? Meanwhile Baguette is 11 laps off. Toasted in the pits with "mechanical" issues.

59: Dixon pits. The last driver left to make a second stop is Mike Conway. Leaders are now Hunter-Reay, Power, and Conweezy.

60: YELLOW! Rahal goes into the tires and Mario Romancini goes right into his attenuator. The Grahamerican jumps out of the car and goes over to "have words" with Mario. Replay shows Mario hip-checked Graham in a battle for 20th, and Graham got his hands off the steering wheel about a split second before incurring a broken wrist.

61: Apparently D&R's Larry Curry was not exactly pleased with race control either. He said "If Brian Barnhart won't do his job they need to get someone who can!" Much discussion regarding the concept of ordering drivers to allow themselves to be lapped breaks out all around.

65: Leaders are Hunter-Reay, Power, Wilson, Dixon, Kanaan. That yellow was good news for Justin but bad for his teammate Conway who hadn't yet made his 2nd pit stop.

66: Back to GREEN! And we are cleanly back to racing.

67: Wilson, enraged by earlier events, closes in and passes Will Power for second. Elsewhere Danica makes an aggressive more and passes Simona for 16th.

68: Hunter-Reay has a lead over Wilson of over three seconds. To quote Morrissey, stop me if you think that you've heard this one before.

69: Sato is kindly pulling aside and letting everyone not named "Milka" around him. He just wants everyone to get a better look at his stylin' ride.

72: Hunter-Reay's lead is up to 6 seconds, which may be due in part to the lapped Rafa Matos who seems to be holding up Wilson. Where's the love, Rafa?

74: Moraes is up to 6th. Really. Very stealth performance by the lost Jonas Brother today.

76: Hunter-Reay is in total control. Wouldn't be surprised if he soon starts tweeting from the car about how awesome his Dallara is handling.

79: True story: walking pit road during a practice session some guy came flying by me, tripped on the curb, and fell down. It was Michael Andretti, and in the second before he got up I momentarily panicked that he had snaped his ankle and everyone would blame me.

80: I only mention that because Andretti's team is about to get his first win in quite a few races. (Maybe Milwaukee in '08?)

81: Hunter-Reay by 5 seconds. Wilson, Power, Dixon, Kanaan. Moraes still hanging in 6th.

84: White flag. You know who by a comfortable margin. I'm sure IZOD is quite thrilled about their driver winning at Long Beach.

85: Checkered flag for Ryan Hunter-Reay, winner of the 36th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach! A few folks here in the media center declared "that's kinda nice". If you mean seeing someone other than Team Penske win this year I'd say that's an understatement.

Post-race interviews deployed: Ryan says his car was "fun" a bunch of times. Dedicates his race to his mother who passed away last year. Gets some sugar from his main squeeze Beccy Gordon. Thanks IZOD and Michael Andretti.

Meanwhile...hey, I need to get ready for the post-race press conference! Sorry to cut things short today, so thanks to all of you for enjoying the race. I've got work to do, so thank you very much, and good night.

Welcome to Barber Motorsports Park, also known as "a beautiful facility". A gorgeous road course with a spectacular museum that, if previous auto races are any indication, promises to feature virtually no passing whatsoever today. But it's the "Augusta" of road courses.

Today's race features a compelling storyline of Will Power attempting to suffocate any hope for anyone else winning any races the rest of the year. The Toowoomba Tornado has won the first two races and starts from the pole today. Rumors are running through the paddock that he's a cyborg from the future sent to destroy Scott Dixon for the sake of humanity.

Meanwhile Mike Conway has qualified second, meaning he has two choice today. One: he can follow Power around all day and finish on the podium. Two: he can try to jump Power at the line and take an early lead, only to panicked into a mistake at some point later in the race. Choose wisely, anonymous redhead.

And with that, it's time to start.

0: Jack Arute is back, interviewing Helio. Jack was not part of the broadcast team for the last event for the St Pete race, one of the few IndyCar races he's ever missed. And of course the St Pete race was rained into a Monday morning. Coincidence? I think not. Somebody check Arute's home for sorcery paraphernalia.

0: Mike Conway is starting second, so he's getting an on-air interview for something other than a mid-race, post-wreck chit chat. And I could swear that Leona Lewis is wearing an IZOD firesuit and standing behind Conway during the interview.

0: Will Power enjoys his vegemite, so he's a bona fide Australian cyborg.

0: Marco Andretti has giant sunglasses with red lenses, smartly co-ordinated with his red and black firesuit. He's finished 23rd and 12th in two races this year, but despite that he's still exceptionally fashion conscious.

0: Justin Wilson says "a common misperception about me is that I'm tall". He made a funny. On a more serious note, if he can find a place to pass he could give Dreyer & Reinbold it's first win since 2000.

0: Jack Arute asks the burning question: "How do you pass when you can't pass?" It's not a real IndyCar race if Arute isn't making my brain explode with his mind-bending madness.

0: Charles Barkley's in the house. The Team Penske paddock, to be exact. Insert me imagining him telling their drivers "Paul Tracy is a knucklehead".

0: Now Barkley is talking to EJ Viso. EJ is about as big as Charles Barkley's leg.

0: Here's a perfectly-timed ad for Brazilian coffee. I think we all agree we're gonna need a whole lotta that beverage today.

0: We've gone 37 minutes into the broadcast and I don't think I've heard the name "Danica" mentioned once. How can this even be an IndyCar race with such an egregious omission?

0: Barber owner/president/overloard George Barber says "Ladies, gentlemen, ya'll start these engines." And the rows get "hot".

0: Power, Conway, Helio, Marco, Dixon and Sato will lead the way into the first turn. You don't need me to tell you first turn on a road or street course is often an improptu re-enactment of "Death Race".

1: And we are GREEN! And we are CLEAN through the opening turns.

2: Clean first lap. Everyone in single file formation. Apparently Dixon jumped the start (shocking, I know) and had to surrender back the position back to Marco. Power, Conway, Helio, Marco, Dixon lead the field.

6: Other than Dixon's jumped start we've had no televised passing yet. *sighs* Where's my coffee.

8: Timing and scoring indicates some passing back in the field...no, wait, that's just because Tagliani is pitting. Nevermind.

10: Romancini and Wheldon pit, trying to get off sequence. It's a celebration of pit strategy today. I tell ya, when you those IndyCar teams plan fuel strategy it's breathtaking wonder to behold.

12: YELLOW! Sato and his glorious Lotus livery is stalled on the course. This is happening during a GoDaddy commercial, which is the first appearance of Danica all day.

12: Delphi Safety team out to perform AAA duties and give him a tow to the nearest pit stall.

13: Lots of cars pit. Not all though. Helio, Marco and others stay out. And it looks like Conway has bested Power to the pit out line...wait, replay says NO! Power by a couple inches.

14: Now it's Helio, Marco, Dixon, Dario, Simona. Yet another Simona sighting near the front.

16: Back to GREEN! And Marco is all over Helio...hang on...maybe..maybe..YES! A televised overtake as occurred! Marco takes the lead, nearly running Helio into the beautiful grass at this beautiful facility.

18: Meanwhile Power and Conway are 13th and 14th respectively.

19: Holy smokes! Wilson just got around Hunter-Reay ON TV for 17th. And right after that Briscoe goes around Romancini for 15th. VERSUS is showing the passing but Jenkins and team are talking about something else. And now we go to commercial. *banging head on laptop*

22: Twitter is all abuzz with word that Taylor Hicks referred to this on IMS Radio as a Formula One race. FOUR TIMES.

23: Speaking of the number four, fourth televised overtake as COnway goes wheel-to-wheel and gets around Briscoe for 14th. I guess Power got around him at some point, but it was not suitable for television.

27: Marco is still leading. He has gone 54 INdyCar races since his lone series win. Calls to mind the Rocky Bobby line "If you ain't first, you're last".

28: In a related note I think this is Vitor Meira's 100th race. All winless. A moment of silence for all those second place finishes by Vitor.

29: Marco will pit. From red to black sidewalls. Helio assumes the lead.

30: I think Tagliani just got around Wheldon for 8th. There was a replay of a pass earlier so now we're up to SIX televised overtakes. I'm giddy like a schoolgirl.

31: Helio pits. This is a 90 lap race so he may try to go the distance on two stops. Comes out in front of Dixon, who was in 2nd. The leaders are now Marco, Helio, Dixon, Kanaan and Power. Looks like the fuel strategy by Kanaan and Power isn't looking so hot right now.

35: Tagliani and Hunter-Reay make pit stops. That's about all that's happening.

37: Hang on. Matos and Vitor are battling. Replay shows Matos nearly taking out Tagliani on pit exit. And back to live for a LIVE overtake of Matos by Vitor. Like Jack Daniels, that's Number 7!

41: Bob Jenkins tells us Takuma Sato is back on track. He's 21 laps down so I guess he has been for some time. I know, I really should look at the ticker on the screen more often.

42: Power, Conway, and Briscoe all pit. Haning together on a renegade pit strategy. Top 5 is now Marco, Helio, Dixon, Dario, Simona. Swiss Miss is all business today.

45: Replay shows Wheldon, Tagliani and Matos all passing Milka in one turn. Sorry, but passing Milka doesn't count as a televised overtake.

46: Mutoh, Sato, Rahal, and others are now going around the friendly moving chicane that is Milka Duno. Immediately afterwards Mutoh goes wide on exit or a turn and does a little lawn mowing. Nothing serious though, surrendering just one position.

47: Danica around Viso. Overtake number eight!

49: Timing and Scoring indicates not only has Alex Lloyd's car not failed him yet, but he's up to 8th. I sincerely hope I didn't just jinx him.

51: I'm a little disappointed they haven't said anything about the new guy named Baguette yet. Arute could go to town with that name.

53: Helio is all over Marco's rear bumper. Not passing though. Might not need to since if there's no yellow Helio could be the only car to go the distance on two stops.

54: Looks like Power got around Simona for 5th. Didn't see it though. Her crew says she will be 2 short of going all laps on one more stop. Life is 2 short.

55: Wilson around Lloyd on the replay. Number nine. That was for 10th so Alex has dropped a couple spots.

57: Marco into the pits. Helio leads again. After the stop Marco only drops to 4th. Dixon and Dario ahead of him.

59: Very brief mention of The Grahmerican. He's in 17th.

60: Another bunch of overtaking of Milka. Meanwhile Viso spun for some reason, but doesn't stall and soldiers on. No replay on what happened.

60: Dixon pits. Dario must have pitted earlier. Helio is ahead of them all by over 20 seconds. Laying the smack down.

61: Helio rolls into the pit box. Here comes Marco and...Marco will get ahead of him. Dixon, Power and Dario now round out the Top 5.

62: Wilson carefully overtakes his teammate Conway for pass number 10. Rejoice.

65: Quick math: Helio went from 32 to 61 on a tank, all green flag laps. He's gonna cut it real close to finish without pitting again. Not impossible though.

66: Meanwhile Marco will definitely be a couple laps short on his current fuel. Where's a spinning Bryan Herta when you really need him?

67: Milka goes off course but no yellow. Replays show Marco's strategist Kyle Moyer shouting "Crash! Crash!" at the monitors. Insert me spewing coffee on my laptop.

68: Danica tries to help her teammate by hip-checking Alex Lloyd into a spin. No stall and no yellow, though. Sorry, Marco.

71: Up front Helio is all over Marco like a cheap suit, trying to force him into a mistake. Meanwhile they're closing in on Marco's teammate and Helio's rival - TOny Kanaan. Gird your loins, fellas.

72: Behind Marco and Helio, Dixon is about a second back. Meanwhile Dario is 17 seconds back in 4th. Power is 27 seconds behind the leaders in 5th.

75: Andretti Autosport has not won in 27 races (Richmond '08). Without a yellow it's going to be 28. We're just waiting to see if there's a yellow in the4 next dozen laps at this point.

78: Marco is right behind Rahal right now. Massive airtime for Sarah Fisher Racing and Dollar General.

82: Drama averted as Marco pits. No tires, just fuel.

83: Helio and Dixon go around Rahal, so that's a dozen televised overtakes. It's Helio, Dixon, Dario, Power, Marco. I think the Ganassi cars need to pit, but I could be wrong.

84: Wilson around Kanaan. 13 televised overtakes, roughly half of which are by Justin Wilson, now in 7th.

85: Simona is stalled on the inside of turn for a local yellow...wait, now it's a full course caution. Time to bunch them up.

86: Arute reminds us at the start of the race at St Pete "Marco carved himself like a hot knife through butter." Ouch!

87: I guess the Ganassi cars don't need to pit, which means we can look forward to watching Dixon try to jump the start on Helio. That would be a nice bookend to this event.

88: Back to GREEN! Both Helio and Dixon are "on the button" so no passing occurs up front.

89: White flag for Helio, who probably furiously mashing the Push To Not Be Passed button.

90: And Helio is your winner, meaning Team Penske is now 3 for 3 in 2010. Dixon, Dario, Power, Marco round out the Top 5. Now we get to see if they have any fencing in Alabama that's suitable for climbing.

Yup, they got fencing for Spiderman to climb.

Post-race interviews deployed. Scott Dixon is complaining "I think the officials screwed us at the start". Don't be whiny, Scott. Not after driving so well today.

Meanwhile Helio is talking about his baby daughter. Looking into the camera at me in my living room Drops a "fun-tastic" in there for good measure. He's giving a master course in media savvy.

Marco has put the shades with the red lenses back on. Sounds low-key, but glad to be in the Top 5. Somehow his hair is still vertical despite wearing a helmet for the last two-plus hours. Impressive.

Well, that's it for me. I counted just 13 televised overtakes, although if you include the times Milka Duno got passed that number easily doubles. Congrats Barber on your beautiful facility, to Marco for making it interesting (sorta), and to Helio and Team Penske for getting it done today. Thank you very much folks, and good night.

Welcome to St Pete where...it's wet. Very wet. With lots of wind. And lightning. And puddles so deep they might be harboring alligators. And while that might add an extra level of excitement for race fans in the comfort of their homes, it's a living nightmare for the IRL logistical staff as well as the drenched fans seeking cover in Florida.

When the powers that be figure out when this baby will be raced I'll be glad to tell you all about it. For now, well, the intrepid Curt Cavin just tweeted "There is NO CHANCE this race is held today. NONE!"

After the weather-related fiascoes to start the 2010 season, I wonder if Randy Bernard is starting to plan ways to have indoor races.

UPDATE: Looks like the race will be at 10am ET on ESPN2, which is 7am for those of us at or near the west cost. It's like breakfast at Wimbledon for IndyCar fans.

Welcome to Brazil, where the 2010 IZOD IndyCar season is about to kick off for the first time outside the friendly confines of the US borders. But it's all good - Jack Arute is there to make Sao Paolo feel just as awkward as any other race.

Today's race features 7 Brazilians racing in their homeland. IRL regulars Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, Rafa Matos and a freshly healed Vitor Meira will join rookies Mario Romancini and Ana Beatriz, and thanks to a last minute deal Mario Moraes will be racing as well. Collectively they might outsell Danica Patrick at the merchandise trailer this weekend.

The big story this weekend is that yesterdays qualifications were canceled due to a slippery straightaway. The front section is part of what's none as the Sambadrome, although after removing the surface paint from the recent Carnivale festivities the concrete track was more like the ice at the Saddledome. The slippery surface might have been some nefarious plot to eliminate passing altogether on a street course, but Brian Barnhart called in the grinders overnight and now it appears we have a sufficient racing surface.

So we have a serious test of of the off-season conditioning today, as this morning they've had a practice session, qualifications, and now the race. Let's hope the drivers did their workouts workouts, are properly hydrated, and have made all other necessary preparations...



...because after a loooooong winter IT'S TIME TO START!

0: Dario Franchitti will be starting from the pole today. Arute is stuffing the mic in his face, and Dario does not disappoint. Says for Brian Barnhart "had to have really big attachments" to cancel qualifications yesterday. I just spewed coffee.

0: Alex Tagliani, in his first race for his the FAZZT Racing team he co-owns, is starting next to Dario on the front row. Justin Wilson and part-timer Ryan Hunter-Reay are starting in Row 2. Bully for the little guys!

0: And...we have a little rain. Now they have to figure out if they need to change tires. Jack Arute is showing us the weather radar, pointing to multi-colored blots. It appears it's May in Brazil.

0: Well, the pace car circled the track and I guess it's not too wet.

0: The most sedate man in Sao Paolo announces "...drivers, start your engines..."

0: OK, we have red tires, black tires, and our first chance to see IndyCars with a reverse gear. Hopefully this will help avoid a few yellow flags. On a personal note, I'd love to see the winner of this race circle the track in reverse for a super-slow victory lap.

0: For those interested, we have 5 rookies. Beatriz and Romancini, along with Takuma Sato, Simona de Silvestro, and Alex Lloyd. Quite a diverse group.

0: ...and finally We Are GREEN GREEN GREEN!

0: HOLY GOAT RODEO, BATMAN!!! What a messed up first turn! In what is possibly the worst start EVAH to an IRL race we see Helio, Dixon, and Sato are spinning, lots of cars through the run off, and Mario Moraes's Dallara is on top of Marco Andretti's head!

1: Marco is still stuck in that car and under that other car. A little help over here, please.

2: Arute tells us Marco has contacted his team through the in-car radio that he is OK. That's amazing - three sincere cheers for Dallara safety!

3: Replays show that Sato got loose entering the first turn causing the first mess. Moraes looks like he was spinning as well before he gassed his car over the back of Marco's. Boom, zoom, crash! (Warning: I'm fast exceeding my exclamation point quotient.)

4: Marco is out of the car, walking to the ambulance. Applause all around. Franchiti, Tagliani, Hunter-Reay...wait, now Power is third and Ryan is 4th? What? How are we passing under yellow?

5: Looks like some cars are pitting, none of the leaders though. A crane has arrived to remove what's left of Marco's car. Power makes a pit stop, so Hunter-Reay is back in 3rd. Kanaan and Matos round out the top 5.

6: Moraes declines to be interviewed by Arute. These aren't the droids you're looking for, Jack. Meanwhile, Marco has been checked, released, and will no doubt be tracked down by the very busy Arute.

7: Just got a shot of Romancini's car. Bright white with green "DOLLY" on the side. Now I have Louis Armstrong singing in my head.

8: Might be going green again soon. Gird your loins for the battle in the first turn, folks.

9: Restart on and we are once again GREEN GREEN GREEN!!! Through turn one, then two, then three, and we are in full parade mode.

10: Arute tracks down Marco, who seems fairly even headed about the whole thing. Said "couldn't see a foot in front of you" and that he was letting off on the gas, inferring the kind sould behind him might not have been so cautious. Marco might still be a bit woozy from having a 1500lb car sitting on his head for a few minutes.

11: Dixon has recovered nicely from that first lap fracas. He's already up to 9th, while Helio is back in 16th. Meanwhile Sato is parked in the pits. 20 drivers on the lead lap, with only Alex Lloyd a lap down after having to have some parts changed earlier.

12: Well, it looks like Milka just got lapped, so make that 19 cars on the lead lap.

14: Top 4 are pulling away, with Dan Wheldon all up in Rafa Matos' business for 5th.

15: Wheldon, Mutoh, Vitor, Danica, Conway comprise 6th through 10th, in case you were wondering. NO PENSKE CARS in the Top 10!

18: And Wheldon has gotten around Matos for 5th. Looks like Wheldon is moving up invisibly through the field. Would have been nice to see some actual overtaking. *banging head on laptop*

19: RHR passes Tags for P2. Hooray for televised passing!

20: Kanaan tries to get around Tagliani, but can't quite get er done. Locks the brakes but maintains control, drawing the applause of the crowd.

22: YELLOW for a stalled Milka Duno on the course. Why a full course caution? I don't know, and I'm getting tired of asking during these street races. I guess they can't just push her to a runoff with a local yellow...but what do I know.

24: Pits are open...and EVERYONE comes in. Nice and orderly. All drivers are on their best behavior. Looks like first out are Dario, Hunter-Reay, Kanaan, Tagliani, and Wheldon.

25: Hold the phone - one car did not pit: Simona de Silvestro, who now leads the race. She pitted right before the yellow so this is legit. You go girl!

26: Looks like the rain is coming in. Jack says "I'm starting to feel like the hippy-dippy weatherman." *another spit take*

27: Back to GREEN. Hang on, Simona - here they come! Hunter Reay is all over Dario's rear wing. Works him the entire lap and finally gets him in the last turn for P2.

28: RHR is driving like a man possessed. Takes the inside line, sparks flying from the bumps, and rockets past Simona for the lead.

29: The hippy-dippy weatherman says rain is coming.

29: Ruh-roh! Tagliani tangles with Kanaan and they both slide into the run-off. Oh, they Brazilian fans will not be pleased.

29: Hang on, replay shows Dan Wheldon punted Tags who spun into Kanaan. Meanwhile Briscoe pulls into the pits to change to rain tires...and here comes the rain!

30: Kanaan is back on the the track, and while we were looking at the accident it seems Dario got around Simona for second.

30: Lots of cars pulling into the pits to change for rain tires, but a few stay out. Curous call for those who stay out, as we see Beatriz, Danica, and Romancini spinning around, all without contact. It's like ice capades with cars. Quite graceful actually.

30: Full course yellow now as Alex Lloyd has made contact with the wall. Probably had an ungraceful spin, but we have no replays.

31: Rain is really coming down now. Arute suggests the way this weekend is going locusts might not be far behind. Looks like puddles are forming, which as I recall caused some significant delays at the race at St Pete a couple years ago.

32: Oh by the way, the leaders are RHR, Dario, Swiss Miss, Dixon, Wheldon. Meanwhile it appears Romancini has spun yet again. Hello Dolly!

33: Now Bob Jenkins says that Timing & Scoring is messed up and your actual Top 5 are RHR, Power, Dario, Dixon and Conweazy. Hmm. I think I liked the other Top 5 better.

36: Red flag. Everybody park it.

36: Arute with Tags, who is out of the race. He's not enraged, which is disappointing since I was hoping he'd go after Wheldon in the pits now. The only thing this race is missing a good dust up. Well, that and locusts.

36: Laps, schmaps - we're going to have a timed race. Just like that puddle-rific race in St Pete a few years ago. I thought this timed nonsense ended when the IRL went to VERSUS, but I guess that's not the case.

36: All the drivers are out of their cars, waiting for the signal to race for 45 minutes. It's like halftime at a soccer match. Meanwhile dozens of Brazilians with brooms are furiously sweeping water off the course.

36: Arute with Will Power, asking him "...what to do in the middle of a race in Rio?" Yes, he said Rio. That's our Jack! Meanwhile we learned that the Aussie is eating a banana and honey sandwich - what, not vegemite?

Ed Note: Shane Rogers, the International Superstar, tweets thusly: "Vegemite might be on short supply in Brazil, I condone the choice of Banana and Honey as the T sandwich for Will Power."

36: To kill time VERSUS is showing us 2012 chassis designs. Dallara, Swift, Lola, BAT and OH LOOK AT THIS AMAZING DELTAWING. Time for me to go make my own banana and honey sandwich.

36: Man, this race seems almost as long as the off-season.

36: Drivers are putting the helmets back on. The "Up With People" show better be wrapping ups because this IndyCar halftime show is almost over.

36: The command is given on pit road to fire the engines, so away the roll. The sun is shining and the track is drying, so the game of "how long do you race on grooved tires" begins.

36: Still under yellow with the sun shining on puddles, Briscoe, RHR, Power all pit for slicks. And there's still a lot of puddles on the course. Somewhere pressdog is readying the clown cars.

37: Franchitti, Dixon, Conway, Wilson, Vitor are now the Top 5. Other cars are pitting for slicks as well.

-38 (minutes): I have to change the notation since this is a timed race.

-36: GREEN GREEN GREEN. Target cars lead the way. Oh joy.

-35: Helio passes Viso for 5th, and Viso passes him right back. Look, racing!

-33: Drivers on slicks are marching through the field as RHR, Power, Briscoe up to 8th, 9th, and 10th respectively.

-30: Wilson and Helio have had enough of this nonsense and pit for slicks. Dixon as well. Hunter-Reay up to 2nd now and gunning for Dario.

-29: Dario pits. RHR has the lead with Will Power chasing him 3 seconds back. MMatos Briscoe and Vitor round out the Top 5. Much furious jockeying for position here.

-27: Hunter-Reay is up by six seconds plus. The Big Hyphen is opening up the can of of Whoop-Ass. It's chaos behind him as Power, Briscoe and Matos battle for 2nd.

-24: Briscoe is 2nd, now only 4 seconds back. It might be a Ryan-Ryan finish. Matos third, Power fourth.

-21: Ryan Hunter-Reay drives an IZOD sponsored car. This is IZOD's first race as series sponsor. Go ahead and start your own "the call" rumors.

-20: Romancini has smacked the wall, but he limps around without drawing a full-course caution. Golf clap here for Mario.

-18: Briscoe has caught up to the other Ryan, but that might be because there's some fuel conservation going on.

-17: Briscoe takes the lead...and then Hunter-Reay takes it back, but only when they both go side-by-side and take a shortcut through a turn. It's in the IHJ's hands now.

-16: The IHJ says RHR has to give back the position. Hunter-Reay surrenders the lead but lookie here it's Will Power all over his rear bumper! It's a three-way battle for fuel conservation!

-15: On a positive note, at least they have to conserve with their foot instead of the knob, since the multiple fuel mappings are GONE from the cockpit. Hallelujah!

-13: Still Briscoe, Hyphen, Power, with Matos and Vitor 8 seconds back.

-12: Whoopsie! Briscoe misses a turn and goes into the tires. So much for that Ryan-Ryan finish. Hunter-Reay retakes the lead, and we now have a full course caution. Tick tick tick...

-10: Hyphen, Power, Matos, Meira, Wheldon. Dixon and Dario lurking in 6th and 8th.

-8: This is actually lap 56 for those of your scoring at home. Or even if you're by yourself. *rimshot*

-6: Back to GREEN GREEN GREEN! Hunter-Reay and Will Power launch from the rest in not time at all.

-5: Vitor gets around Matos in a Brazilian battle for third. Vitor is smelling that podium in his first race in 9 months.

-3: Will Power, the Towoomba Tornado, sizes up Hunter-Reay and...and...and he's by for the lead! Tick...tick..tick...

-2: Here's the part where I tell my kids "I told ya Will Power would win, didn't I?" And they nod, because it's easier to beat Shane Rogers in a Vegemite eating contest than it is to best Power on a street circuit. (And Shane is all about the Vegemite, friends.)

-1: Dixon and Dario are battling for 6th. Getting dicey. Easy boys, you're going to be teammates all year. Meanwhile, white flag for Will Power, powered by bananas and honey.

0: It's Power, Hunter-Reay, Meira as the opening race is done. Man, I feel like I've been blogging this race for the last four hours...wait!

Will emerges, acknowledges the crowd and pulls bandages off his fingers. His hands are a bloody mess, and I don't mean that in the way Brits swear. Seriously, he looks like he's been in one of the MMA cage match deals. That's the price of victory.

Congrats to Will for showing Roger Penske he made the right call by getting him a full season deal. Puts that wreck in practice at Infineon last year waaaay in the rear view mirror. I may just sign up for Verizon as a sign of support. Also congratulations to Ryan Hunter-Reay for being up near the front all day. Ain't no shame in his part-time game.

No offense to those two fine gentlemen but the biggest hand of the day goes to Foyt Racing's Vitor Meira, who was last seen at Indy being pulled from a broken car with some freshly broken vertebrae. Months of rehab later he emerges as the top Brazilian in the homeland race. If anyone knows how to say "Way to go, Vitor!" in Portuguese I'll gladly second that exclamation.

And since AJ Foyt's team made the podium, you know what that means? Some quality Brazilian steakhouse is gonna get taken down tonight!

Well, that's going to be a wrap here. We had racing surface issues, weather issues, time issues, Arute issues, but in the end some sense of familiarity is restored as Will Power once again wins on a street course. The season is underway, and for the time being none of the three drivers who were battling for the series title last year are in the Top 5. Hope springs eternal. Thank you very much - good night!

Welcome to Miami, which has replaced Chicagoland as the site of the series finale. With only a few exceptions in the outcome, the IndyCar Series champion will be determined here by whoever finishes first out of the group of Ryan Briscoe, Scott Dixon, and Dario Franchitti. Probably a safe bet to say whoever wins this race will win the whole she-bang, but that remains to be seen.

Enough talk. We've waited SIX WEEKS for an IndyCar race in this hemisphere. It's time to start!

0: Al Trautwig? Really? I thought that was Juno's dad wrapping up the football coverage.

0: Bob Jenkins is standing on the start finish line for the introduction. He needs to get off that track - stat!

0: Robbie Buhl is talking about being a team owner - from the Ganassi pit box. Why couldn't he do this from his own team's pit box? Did his own team evict him?

0: Jenkins is back in the sky lair. Behind him you can see TENS of people in the stands, ready to witness this exciting race day.

0: Gratuitous Briscoe Inferno 2005 footage. I suppose that's preferable to Paul Dana footage since we're at Homestead.

0: Grpahic says Briscoe has won this year at "St. Pete, Kentucky, Joliet". P2 asks "What's Joe-lye-ett?" Good question.

0: Helio discussing his accident in practice this week. Makes a reference to "pain keee-llers". The sound much more soothing the way he says it.

0: Arute informs us that all of the IRL official are wearing pink shirts today for Breast Cancer Awareness. Unlike Chris Berman, he does not say "Breast Awareness". Sarah Fisher gets a big check and whole segment featuring her a pink car to promote the issue, which includes pink sidewalls on her tires. P1 says she "likey".

0: Nice job by VERUS showing the pit teams for the contenders. It's always good to emphasize the team aspect of this sport. However, I still think all the Penske crew are actually cyborg prototypes he purchased from the Pentagon.

0: Only a few more dozen airings and presumably that IZOD ad will be put to rest.

0: Replays of the races this year. Listen closely and you can hear the sound of Ed Carpenter just throwing something across the room.

0: That musical chairs CGI thing is creeping me out. It makes the drivers look like Terence and Phillip clones. I'm imagining Briscoe and Dixon making incessant fart jokes right before the championship is decided.

0: Wow, Arute gives an obvious nod to pressdog by saying "We just wanna light this candle...A dozen clowns suddenly climb out of a Ford Escort in Iowa and slather our blogger buddy in SPF 45. (I couldn't resist).

0: @curtcavin says Helio's girlfriend is due to have a little Helio in January. That's Fun-tastic news!

0: Hey, suddenly a bunch more people showed up! Seriously, the stands look a LOT better. Thousands of people suddenly come back to their seats after getting their pre-race nachos.

0: Al Unser Jr, decked out in a pink shirt, announces "In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness, ladies and gentlemen, fire up those Honda engines!" A bit verbose, but the fist in the air was a nice touch.

0: The cars are on the track. Dario and Dixon lead the way.

1: We are GREEN! Dixon pulls behind Dario as Ed Carpenter jumps into third.

2: Forget strategy - Dixon pulls next to Dario to do a two-wide dance.

5: Briscoe gets around Carpenter and is closing in on the Target Two-Step.

7: Briscoe has caught up and is considering going three-wide. Oh, this ought to be fun!

10: Dario appears to slow down - perhaps assuming the dreaded "Fuel Position 4" - and let's Dixon and Briscoe by.

15: Dixon, Briscoe, Dario, Marco, Wheldon. Yes, there are other drivers in this race.

18: NostraBeekhuis says drivers will be "working the controls". I think he meant tools. The extended layoff has obviously affected him.

22: Here's Alex Lloyd in his pink car with a 5-digit number. Bob Jenkins says Alex lloyd will be in this car "full time next year". Really?

28: Still Dixon, Briscoe Franchitt, albeit a bit spread out. Maybe pit stops will change that.

30: @IndyCarPR says that Jaques Lazier in the Team3G car has retired with mechanical issues. Well, that's 30 more laps than they were able to get Leilani Munter this weekend. *shaking head*

35: And here we see the leaders going around Milka. What's more frequent - shots of someone lapping Milka or IZOD commercials?

43: @FuriousWedge says "Race control says Milka is out of power assist pushes". At least she's using the thing.

46: Briscoe pits. In and out.

49: Dixon pits. In and out.

50: Dario pits. In and out. This is a 200 lap race for those of you watching with a calculator in hand.

53: And after all that Dixon and Briscoe are 1-2 and Dario is...well, he's about 4 or 5 seconds back. Danica and Tony Kanaan round out the Top 5.

54: Whoa - Briscoe closes a bit on Dixon then has 'a moment" in Turn 3. Nothing seriuos, but he may just duck in behind Dixon for a moment.

61: Holy smokin' rotors! Marco is in the pits with the wheels off and steam rising from his wheels.

63: Briscoe gets a good run and gets around Dixon to take the lead.

69: There's some good racing being show and the commentators just keep talking about the Top 3.

72: Dixon goes back around Briscoe. Woo-hoo, another pass for the lead!

73: Danica Patrick is in 4th - TWENTY SECONDS behind the leaders. This is such a three-car race.

78: Danica is in 5th, and has now been lapped. Tony Kanaan is 25 seconds back - the only other car on the lead lap.

85: While we were away during a commercial break Kanaan was passed. Also, Briscoe took the lead. Also, Tomas Scheckter nearly faded Briscoe into the wall. Well, that would have been a bit awkward.

92: Briscoe, Dixon 2.8 seconds back, then Dario 8.1 seconds back. And then a bunch of other drivers not on the lead lap.

98: Briscoe and Dixon make pit stops. In and out. Briscoe leads.

100: Dario pits. In and out. Assumes third position behind the leaders, six or so seconds back. If there's no yellow this bodes well for the Scotsman. Of course, when's the last time you saw an indyCar race without a yellow?

106: Dixon gets hold of the low line and squeezes the lead from Brisoce.

111: Dixon is opening a bit of a lead. Try not to suck away whatever drama remains here, Scott.

116: Bob Jenkins just informed us Marco is out of the race with a brake issue. We kinda figured that about 50 laps ago, but thanks anyways Bob.

122: Soon Dixon will secure the extra point most laps led in this race, which means if he finishes second in the race behind Briscoe he'll still win the ICS title. Excitement reduced.

125: Hold the phone - Dixon gets held up in traffic and Briscoe regains the lead.

128: Just noticed that Hideki Mutoh has gone from starting near the back to 7th. AGR cars are 4th, 6th and 7th, with Marco fuming (perhaps literally) in the garage.

133: Would a yellow flag now make this race more or less interesting? I'm wondering What Would (Mike) Conway Do?

140: Link, sitting in the room, suggested another network gets the rights to all of the cars other than the Penske and Ganassi teams.

145: Briscoe and Dixon again pit simultaneously. In and out.

151: Dario pits. In and out. Your calculator will tell you that if there is no caution - and there has NEVER been and IRL race without a caution - then Dario will win this race by making one less pit stop.

153: Hello! Danica is backwards in her pit box. Dan Wheldon is busting out a hand puppet show. Looks like the two had a fender bender as Dan was exiting and Danica was entering. Some crewman is goin to get an earful for that.

155: Danica's still in the pits. Her car may have a case of bent-metal-itis. Time to put those Boost Mobile dudes in miniskirts to work.

163: Briscoe has just surpassed Dixon for "most laps led" in this race, which means if he wins then, well, he wins everything.

167: Briscoe just lapped Kanaan. FOR THE SECOND TIME. A valiant effort but now all non-title contenders have been moved to the back of the bus, two laps (or more) down.

175: Dixon looks like he's dropped back a couple seconds and may be saving fuel. Or he may simply be getting his tail kicked by Briscoe.

178: Imagine if Dixon runs out of fuel on the last lap and is passed by Dario. Has that every happened before? *cough* 2007 *cough cough*

180: Well, I guess we're just waiting. Lots of shots of nervous relatives in the pits. Oddly enough, Ashley Judd appears the image of serenity.

185: Dixon has closed in on Briscoe and is about .3 seconds back. I don't know if they're racing or conserving fuel or what. Maybe they'll both slow to a crawl and let Dario catch up at some point.

192: Dixon will pit! Looks like there will be no repeat champion in '09.

193: Here comes Briscoe! Splash and go and wait for Dario.

195: Dario is told "they are right behind you". Dario has about a 6 second lead.

196: Dario lets Danica by. Briscoe is 5 seconds back.

198: Briscoe is four seconds back.

199: White flag. Limping around. And...and...

200: And it's Dario!!! He wins the race, he wins the championship, and he does it in the first IRL race ever without a caution.

Swithcing to Ashley-cam: "How great is my husband at saving fuel? WOOOOOO-HOOOO!!!!!!" And that, dear readers, is a direct quote.

Dario has run out of fuel during his "Zanardi's" so he needs to get a push to Victory Lane. Just noticed Security Chief Charles in a pink shirt. Vexing.

Dario says he's "definitely loving it. Definitely loving the IndyCar series. Gotta say thanks to these fans for hanging out in this weather." It's icky sticky in Miami today.

Briscoe, says "I guess I can't be too disappointed". Oh yes you can, Ryan. He's probably thinking about running into the pit wall at Motegi right now. Probably thinking about it A LOT. But that's just speculation on my part.

Meanwhile Scott Dixon is walking around saying "fantastic day for Team Target" and doesn't look too troubled. Why should he - he only got beaten by Dario on fuel conservation for the second time in three years. What could be bothersome about that.

Just an observation - everyone looks really sweaty.

Well, with another 15 minutes in the broadcast they're probably going to interview some more folks but I'm not sure what they can say. "Hi, did my car get any airtime today?" Oh well.

The good news: once again the Indycar series comes down to the drama of the last lap. The bad news: once again it's all about who is best at conserving fuel. The ugly news: without any cautions this was a ridiculous three-car race.

Regardless, this will bring a close to 2009. Congratulations to Dario, who returns to the league and picks up where he left off. Sam Hornish Jr, take note. Take care everyone, drive safely, thank you very much - good night!

Welcome to Chicagoland, located just outside the Windy City of Chicago, where it is not only windy but also cold. Or, as the locals are known to say, "butt cold". In the 50s (Fahrenheit, that is), which is substantially less than the 110-degree sunshine we're enjoying here at My Name Is IRL World HQ. We here will be sweating for all y'all at the race.

Today's big story is the anticipation of some side-by-side racing since this is not only the location of three of the five closest finishes ever, but the last super speedway race at Kentucky was decided by about the distance of Ed Carpenter's shaking arm. We just hope an underdog - ANY underdog - can make a run to the front. It's gotten so bad we're considering Tony Kanaan an underdog.

Also, for the FishHeads in the audience, please be advised that due to Dario's revolving sponsorship deal his car tonight will look nearly identical to Sarah Fisher's. If you see a yellow car near the front to not instinctively reach for a paper bag to breath into.

And with that, it's time to start.

0: We're 5 minutes into the broadcast and Jack Arute has already used the term "plummeting temperatures" several times. Smells like a drinking term, and quite frankly it looks like a little flask of liquid warmth might come in handy tonight.

0: Lindy in the sky(lair) without diamonds, but she is sporting a a big honkin' watch.

0: Robbie Buhl interviews Ed Carpenter. No offense, but this totally pales in comparison to pressdog's Q&A with Ed.

0: Arute is interviewing Kanaan in what looks like a dark alley. It's like an episode of "Cops". I kinda hope Kanaan takes off running and makes Jack chase him down.

0: Robbie is interviewing the always ebullient Helio. P1 just chirped "I know why Helio's so happy. He drinks to much coffee. Or there's something wrong with him." That's my girl!

0: Nostrabeekhuis is goving over telemetry relating to the Will Power/Nelson Philippe incident. Apparently the docs looked at the telemetry and said "Hey Will, your back is broken". Will was probably relieved, although he was also probably looking for his missing teeth.

0: We just learned Ryan Briscoe plays rugby. Riiiiiiight. I'm not douubting he loves the sport, but Ryan's about as big as me, which means he'd get snapped like a twig in the first scrum of the match.

0: Danica has a fetching beanie cap on her melon, looking like she's about to bust out a skateboard. With her contract ending maybe she's trying to suggest we start a rumor about her joining the Olympic snowboard team.

0: Why does Danica get the soaring inspirational soundtrack during her Jack Arute Interrogation? Everyone else got some creepy new-agey crap that sounded straight outta the X-Files.

0: Danica likes to drink wine. And clean the house. And pick up dog crap. For a brief moment, I was almost in love with her there.

0: Robbie Floyd just said this race will be the closest Hideki Mutoh gets to home all year. Uh, what about Motegi?

0: Robbie and Tony Kanaan were asking what kind of girlfriend he's like. "I don't care." Now, more than ever, Hideki needs to take the offer of our own Shane Rogers to serve as his wingman.

0: Let's warm up these cars and get this baby underway before it becomes a Sunday race.

0: I think Deiter from the SNL "Sprockets" skit says "Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines." Now is the time on Sprockets when we dance!

0: Warm up laps. Literally. Briscoe and Castrovenes will lead them to the green flag.

1: And we're green. Fugly. Totally spread out.

2: Kanaan is contesting Dario for third. Tony is driving the Oscar Mayer wienermobile. Has an board camera. Weiner cam?

7: Kanaan drops, Dixon moves up, and here come Ed Carpenter going after the Top 5.

8: Dixon is flying, up to 2nd.

10: Briscoe, Dixon, Dario, Helio, Ed. Help us Obi-Ed, you're our only hope.

11: Dixon contesting for the lead. If he's conserving fuel then I'm a Chinese fighter pilot.

13: Dixon drops back behind Briscoe. Now he's conserving fuel. After the season finale here in 2007 you can't say the phrase "fuel conservation" without saying "Scott Dixon".

17: Ed gets around Helio for 4th. Admit it - you're rooting for Ed tonight. It's OK, you're in good company.

24: Tomas Scheckter nearly takes the front wing off Danica. Robbie Buhl then says "The spotter is just a tool". I just spewed adult beverage all over my laptop.

29: Scheckter is on the move. He's up to 9th. Probably itching to pass 7 cars in one turn as he's done in the past.

32: Graham Rahal, battling Mario Moraes for 6th, nearly puts Moraes in the grass. Jonas Brothers song of the day:: "Hold On!"

39: Since he's been tucked behind Briscoe for 20 laps, do we really need Arute to tell us Scott Dixon is making fuel? Elsewhere, water is wet.

40: Speaking of, when are these cars due for pit stops?

44: Ryan Hunter-Reay is the first to make a pit stop.

45: And Viso. And Fisher. And Conway. And the Weinermobile. And Marco. And Scheckter.

47: Briscoe pits. So does Ed. That means Dixon will pit in about 5 laps.

49: Helio pits. And here comes Dixon and Dario. On exit Briscoe gets around Dario. Helio is behind them. It's now Dixon, Briscoe, Dario, Helio...and Scheckter!

53: Tomas is all up in Ed's business. The front four have pulled away by a few seconds but the nine or so cars behind them are, well, you could throw the proverbial blanket over them.

57: Sensing fans irritation at fuel conservation, Briscoe and Dixon go wheel-to-wheel for the lead. Briscoe's even using The Button in an attempt to get around him.

62: It took him 5 laps but Briscoe finally got around Dixon. It's Penske, Ganassi, Penske, Ganassi - but at least they're racing each other.

72: Marco has to pit because he didn't get enough fuel on his pit stop. Bummer, especially since I think I picked him in my TSO fantasy league.

76: The leaders approach slower traffic and Helio takes the lead. Goes three-wide around Easy Conweasy and Viso to take the lead.

80: Viso and Dixon are going wheel-to-wheel for the first time all year. It won't last, but we can enjoy the moment.

82: Helio, Dixon, Dario, Briscoe, Ed. Scheckter still all over him.

83: All those drivers in the second pack need a yellow to catch back up with the Big Two. Milka Duno, paging Milka Duno.

89: Still no yellows, and the average race speed exceeds 210 mph. This race might actually finish at a reasonable hour. Well, on the West Coast, at least.

92: YELLOW for Mutoh, who is into the wall. He must have thought I was talking to him when I said "Paging Milka". Skidding sideways, throwing dust and possibly marbles everywhere. Slides down the track and looks to be OK. But we're gonna bunch up on the restart.

95: Free ethanol for everyone! Let's all pit together, and on exit it is...Dixon, Helio, Dario, Ed, Scheckter. Briscoe stuck a few extra moments in the pits, dropping back behind Moraes and Matos.

97: Dan Wheldon appears to be done in the pits. @16AndGeorgetown says "Looks like Wheldon Schecktered his Dallara".

102: Back to GREEN, and Ed tries to get the jump on Dario. No dice. Moraes pulls along side of Scheckter, Dixon pulls inside of Helio. It's called racing.

104: Mario Moraes gets around Scheckter and Ed as well. Closing in on Dario. Wow.

106: Dear Lord, this is just beautiful.

109: YELLOW for another AGR car. Marco got up to high, left some tire marks on the wall, through some dust up, but nothing wrecked. Hey, what's another pit stop to him at this point.

110: How bad has Panther's season gone? Wheldon got interviewed for about 10 seconds before being interrupted by Marco's incident.

112: Tomas Schekcter is in third. D&R is banging on the podium for the second consecutive race. Check for a plague of toads in tiny peacoats outside of Chicago.

113: Most drivers pull off to pit again, but some don't. That means your leaders are now Scheckter, Kanaan and Moraes. Praying for rain, every one of them.

117: Back to GREEN, and Dario TOTALLY jumps the start. Or brilliantly times it. Either way he's around Moraes and into 3rd. Meanwhile Kanaan takes the lead.

120: Kanaan, Scheckter, Dario, Ed, Moraes. 14 cars separated by less than a second. Hallelujah!

122: I'm just going to sit back and enjoy this before the Big Two ruin it all.

124: That didn't last long. Dario and Dixon charge to the front and claim P1 and P2.

131: Dario, Dixon, Moraes, Kanaan, Servia. How many of you even knew Oriol was in this race?

133: Dario, Dixon and Mario Jonas are starting to separate a bit. Does this mean we all have to start rooting for Moraes?

140: I don't know how, but Marco is still on the lead lap, 2.5 seconds back, in 12th. Ahead of Helio, no less.

143: Milka is parked in the pits. Wait...false alarm, she's going back out to valiantly fall even more laps down.

148: Make that a foursome up front, as Ryan Briscoe has moved up to P4. He can't let Moraes break the Evil Empire's stranglehold on the podium.

155: Kanaan pits all by himself. Meanwhile Briscoe has vanquished Moraes to take 3rd.

157: Briscoe takes second from Dixon.

159: Dario pulls off for his final pit stop. And the tire jack gets stuck under his car, losing a precious second or two.

162: Briscoe makes his final pit stop. Dixon regains the lead.

164: Here's Ed Carpenter making his final stop. Dixon, Helio, Rahal and Danica are the last ones on the lead lap.

165: And Danica and Rahal pit. And Dixon too. Helio behind him. Dixon is out first.

166: Here comes Brisoce, around Helio, but still too far behind Dixon. After all of that it's Dixon, Briscoe, Helio, Dario, Moraes.

170: Ganassi, Penske, Penske, Ganassi - but they're aren't really close to each other anymore. I sure hope after all this spectacular racing it doesn't all go to crap in the final laps.

175: Would you believe Marco, Graham and Moraes are all battling for 5th right now? Ed's up there with them as well. Kudos to VERSUS for giving them air time.

184: YELLOW for Helio! The #3 is sliding down the front stretch. Replay shows the super perfect Team Penske car just broke. Let's bunch 'em up and take one more shot at this.

185: Dixon, Dario, Briscoe, Marco, Moraes. After a bad pit stop and grazing the wall Marco is thisclose to the podium. Impressive.

188: Arute is going over who has how many pushes of the Push To Overtake button left. I'm going to be heretical here and say it doesn't matter. In fact, it appears about as useful as the "Close Door" button on elevators. I just don't see it helping drivers actually passing each other as much as the other changes.

191: Back to GREEN! And Rahal and Marco and Moraes and Ed get back to dicing among each other.

193: Rahal gets 4th, no 3rd around Dario!

195: Dario back in third, but it's a race.

196: Briscoe pulls along side of Dixon. Rahal right behind him.

198: Three wide for the lead!

199: White flag. Rahal has deopped back, but Moraes jumps up. Dixon and Briscoe side by side and the winner is...

200: Ryan Briscoe! Years ago he left this track in an ambulance, but tonight he'll leave vie Victory Lane.

Fourth closest finish in IndyCar history. .0077 seconds. Wow! Man, after all the horrible oval races we saw this year it's great to see two straight close finishes - even if they were both won by the same guy.

Congrats to Briscoe on a race Roger Penske said was the best he'd ever seen him run. Congrats to Dixon for finishing second at Chicagoland again, as well as Mario Moraes for claiming the third spot on the podium.

Now that's IndyCar racing, friends! And on a Saturday night, no less. I'm beginning to think I need to make a pilgrimage to this track some day. I hope you all enjoyed it as well. Drive safely, thank you very much, and good night.

Welcome to Sonoma, where sadly your humble host - despite planning to the contrary - is not in fact LIVE from Infineon Raceway. Instead I am firmly ensconced in a giant green La-Z-Boy here in sweltering Arizona sipping on a glass of cheap Cabernet. Not the full effect, but close.

Speaking of full effect, we will not be starting with the full field today after a practice accident yesterday involving Nelson Philippe spinning, stalling and being T-boned by Will Power.



Both drivers suffered concussions. Power also found himself with two fractured vertebrae while Philippe had an "open fracture" of his left foot. That means a bone was sticking out of his leg, and that ain't good. Fortunately, both have been reported to be recovering and are expected to race again another day.

And for those of you who think these Dallaras are ugly, yes, they have goofy looking needle noses - but they just may have saved Mr Philippe from having a Zanardi-like tragedy. Three cheers for technology!

Meanwhile the other big story today has to do with AGR, who despite downsizing their ownership is upsizing their race team today. In addition to their (ahem!) Fab Four they have added Franck Montagny, who may or may not be auditioning for a fulltime ride with AGR next year. He's French, so he may also just here for the wine and cheese.

And with that, it's time to start.

0: This race is taking place just outside of San Francisco, which among it's many offerings is a city known for it's cable cars. It's also known for people who get testy when you call those cable cars "trolleys". I'm only saying this because Robbie Floyd on VERSUS just called them "trolleys" like four times in the opening minutes.

0: Robbie makes up for his transgression by calling Graham Rahal "Grahamburglar".

0: Mario Moraes has already made an enemy, bumping Helio Castroneves off the track during today's morning warm-up.

0: It's gone under-reported, but Jack Arute will not be returning to ESPN next year. It appears he has shaved his head in protest.

0: In a pre-race segment EJ Viso puts a giant python or boa constrictor around Jack Arute, who says he hates snakes. Jack has so much in common with Indiana Jones it's scary.

0: This is THE LAST road course race of the year. Scott Dixon won the last won by 29 seconds. Why do I prefer ovals to road courses? One reason is because it's nearly impossible to win on oval by 29 seconds.

0: @curtcavin says "Will Power had his two front teeth knocked out in the crash (yesterday)". I hope he doesn't have the same dentist as Dan Wheldon.

0: Hey, we're about to start a race. Dario starts on the pole, followed by Briscoe, Helio, Marco, and Mutoh. Yes, Mutoh. Godzilla vs the Wine Spectator.

0: Let's start this race, 50 minutes after the broadcast began, shall we?

1: And we're GREEN...and in turn two it's total mayhem. Dixon rear-ends Kanaan, Kanaan knocks Viso off course, Danica and Rahal go sliding off course. Dixon has lost part of the front wing and is stalled on the turn.

2: And we're yellow. And Danica is in the pits. And her crew has wrenches out, so that's never good.

3: It's Franchitti, Briscoe and Helio leading the field.

4: Dixon in the pits. Kanaan in the pits. Grahamburglar in the pits and out of the car. Broke the drive shaft. And Viso's car is being wheeled behind the wall.

5: Back to GREEN. Everyone through the first few turns cleanly. Scott Dixon is back out in the back on the lead lap. I'm sure you were worried.

5: 5 laps in and Milka is in 14th. Shoulda picked her int the TrackSide Online fantasy league.

6: Justin Wilson started 22nd and is already up to 11th, because on road courses he's awesome. Of course, as I type this he pits for fuel and tires, falling back behind what cars are left on the track.

8: Mutoh is in 4th, Wheldon is in 5th. Wheldon in 5th on a road course? Really???

9: @paultracy3 tweets "Holy sh-t, that was a crazy lap, all that chrome horn. I'm sure someone will say it's my fault." I never thought I'd say that, but I have to admit: I'm a fan.

14: Dario, Briscoe, Helio, Mutoh (all over his bumper) and Moraes. Guess he got around Wheldon. Would have been nice to see that.

14: Oh look, here's footage of Moraes passing Wheldon. Thanks, VERSUS.

15: @HVMracing says "13 car cannot be repaired in time to return to the race." Who else wants EJ to grab a snake and terrorizes Arute some more?

17: Ryan Briscoe is in second, happy to not pass Dario because he's gaining points on Dixon. Further proof Briscoe is the Mortal Enemy of Fun.

18: Meanwhile Mutoh is still all up in Helio's business but he can't get past him because there's like two passing zones on the entire track. That's why this track has been called "Infini-yawn" or "Snore-noma".

21: Ed carpenter is 12th on a road course. If he makes the Top 10 we may all need to send flowers and chocolates to VisionRacing.

22: Milka has fallen back to 20th. I didn't know there were 20 cars left in this race.

24: Dixon pits. Does this even matter now? He's so far back they might as well be showing my extremely distant cousin Richard Antinucci making a pit stop. And since I mentioned it, my cuz is up to 11th today thank you very much.

26: Wheldon relinquishes 6th by pitting. Gets a wing adjustment to that cattle-guard looking abomination of excessive downforce.

26: Hunter-Reay, who had moved up to 8th, pits. Having a nice run for Foyt today.

27: Briscoe pits. So does Moraes and Mutoh. All out in the order they came in but Mario Jonas almost pulled out before the fuel hose was disengaged. A split second earlier and he could have been "Burning Up". (That's Jonas Brothers humor for those of you over 12.)

28: Franchitti pits. In and out, still in the lead.

29: Hunter-Reay back in the pits after he lost some of his wing trying to get around Oriol Servia. So much for that great day.

30: Dixon and Wilson racing for position. Cameras are spinning. Tens of home viewers experience vertigo.

30: Richard Antinucci sighting! He's directly behind Wilson racing for position. Using all of the track and some of the grass.

32: Antinucci gets around Wilson for 14th! All five members of Team 3G enjoy their first celebration of the season.

33: After all the pits stop it's still Dario, Briscoe, Helio, Mutoh, Moraes.

34: Conway has moved up to 7th, right behind Wheldon. Might be feeling the need to wreck soon. Conway is sponsored by "TranSystems", which is quite the name to be sporting in the bay area. Those of you who live there know what I'm sayin'.

36: We're watching a battle for 11th with Doorbos and Dixon. Is it me or does it look like Doornbos ripped off Danica's livery? Is he going to be doing commercials with men in skirts soon?

38: Helio has closed in on Briscoe, but if you think he's going to pass his teammate, who's a lot closer to the series title, you're probably smoking crack right now.

40: Milka, operating in the IndyCar GT class, is slowing down various drivers. It may be unsafe, but it makes for interesting TV.

42: We're told that Power and Philippe are watching in the hospital. Here in the My Name Is IRL World HQ, Link asks "You think they're sharing a room?"

44: Franck Montagny, driving what looks exactly like an AFS/AGR IOndy Lights entry, is in the pits for an extended stay. Not a good weekend for Frenchmen in Sonoma.

45: Same Top 5 as it was 20 laps ago. Smells like an outbreak of fuel conservation.

46: OMG! VERSUS voice-over promoting the IndyCar championship battle said "Fran-chitty". FAIL!

47: Just noticed on a wide-angle shot the TENS of fans at the race. I think I can almost identify @DiecastDude.

48: Briscoe gets squirrely, threatening the lock step. Helio, loyal teammate that he is, does not pass. Lock step resumes.

51: The lock step continues, but the top three of Dario, Briscoe and Helio are so close you could throw a blanket over them. Meanwhile, Mutoh and Moraes (4th and 5th) make their pit stops.

53: SWEET MOTHER OF ATTENUATORS! Helio nearly rear ends Briscoe as Ryan slows to make a turn while Helio continues straight on into the pits. Roger Penske's hair turns another shade of white. Helio out.

54: Helio and Kanaan go wheel-to-wheel...and the director cuts away to show Briscoe pitting. WTF? Replay shows the two Brazilians bump, sending Helio into the air. Note to whoever is in charge: when Helio and Kanaan are driving together you NEVER switch cameras!

55: It appears Helio has a cut tire from the incident, but he's hanging in 3rd. Dario makes his final pit stop and keeps the lead.

56: Good news: Graham Rahal's car is back on pit road. Bad news: the team is simply practicing changing tires.

58: Helio blew a tire, pitted, and is still in third. That Penske team is something else.

59: Mutoh stalking Helio like Godzilla going after the Smog Monster. Mutoh about to pass Helio...and we cut away again to show a taped pass of Wilson getting around Wheldon. *slamming head on armrest*

60: Mutoh gets around Helio, we see it on tape delay. Passing on VERSUS is only shown on tape delay. And for what it's worth he's 12 seconds behind Briscoe for 2nd.

62: Hang on: Dario and Briscoe are closing on on Milka.

62: And she let them around. Where's the fun in that?

66: YELLOW! We got Helio parked in the dirt. Entered the first turn and the car elected to not turn. Much dirt thrown about.

66: Elsewhere on the track Ryan Hunter-Reay is stalled on the course. In car-camera (and audio) reveals a dead motor. Just died like a stricken beast. I think that's like the third Honda motor ever to give up the ghost during a race.

69: We're gonna get ourselves a restart with the leaders all bunched back up. Dario, Briscoe, Mutoh, Moraes, Conway. Wow. Even Con-weasie is up there.

70: Jack Arute just said to look for Justin Wilson to make a charge to the podioum in the restart. He's in 7th. On a road course. Arute is clearly smoking the wacky tobaccy.

70: Arute also said "Grandma, put your teeth in your pocket because it's about to get wild!" Sweet lord, I need a defibrillator.

71: Back to GREEN, and Wilson can't get around Oriol Servia. He's trying, though. And quite frankly I could kiss whoever came up with the in-car camera right now.

72: Conway gets around Moraes...and then Mutoh for third. Easy cheesy, conweasy!

73: Whoopsie! Wilson tries get around Servia, slides sideways, does not stall, and despite surrendering a couple of positions stays on course.

74: White flag. Conway all over Briscoe. Showing some killer instinct.

75: Dario wins, with Briscoe and Conway less than a car-length behind each other. Meanwhile Dixon spins in the last corner and drops to 14th. Much rejoicing among my Dixon-hating kids right now.

Replay shows Marco punted Dixon in that last turn. If Dixon loses the title this year Marco won't be tweeting anymore about "having dinner at St Elmo's with Dixie."

Ryan Briscoe finishes 2nd for the 7th time this year. He only beats little guys like Justin Wilson and Ed Carpenter. Dario is too much for him to overcome, but if he wins the series championship I'm sure he won't be terribly bothered.

Congrats to Dario, Ryan, and Mike Conway, who snuck up on everyone and snagged a spot at the podium. This should afford him a valuable opportunity to introduce himself to Dario and Ryan.

That's it for me. Dario may have gone uncontested all day but I gotta say that was actually an interesting race. Seriously, this may be the first Sonoma IndyCar race where no one here at the World HQ didn't fall asleep. That's saying something.

Take care, drive safely, thank you very much, and good night.

Welcome to the aptly named Mid Ohio Sports Car Course, where the heroes of the Indy Car series will race in the middle Ohio on a Sports Car Course. Hence the name.

The big story today is that shuffling of drivers this weekend. After the passing of his father, Mario Moraes has taken leave to be with his family this weekend, handing the keys to the #5 off to Paul Tracy, who in his last race collided with Mario and sent him out of the race. Color that ironic.

Meanwhile Robert Doornbos decided he'd had enough of being Graham Rahal's teammate and decided he's be a much better fit with EJ Viso. Viso and Doornbos should provide the most exciting tag team since the Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff. Back at NHL, Oriol Servia has taken control of the "06". This marks rougly the 161st racing team of Servia's career.

Since this is a road course that means Richard Antinucci is in and Jaques Lazier is out at Team 3G. Stanton Barrett is still nowhere to be seen, but he might be chillin' with Tomas Scheckter and Will Power since neither of them are entered today.

And above all, Jack Arute is back.

With the lineups sorted out, it's time to start.

0: Today's sign of the Apocalypse: Ed Carpenter is being interviewed in the pre-race show for a road course race.

0: Paul Tracy is being interviewed by Arute. That KV Racing firesuit doesn't exactly have a slimming effect. I don't know about you, but I'd love to have dinner with these two personalities so long as I wasn't buying.

0: And by my count we have just witnessed the 10,000th airing of that IZOD commercial. * blows kazoo *

0: The supremely talented Lewis Franck observes: "Does Dale change his shirt or is he like Adrian Monk when it comes to wardrobe."

0: Discussing tires, NostraBeekhuis just told me I'm breathing 78% nitrogen. I suddenly find myself coughing uncontrollably.

0: Was that footage of Graham as an infant? If so, why was he dressed like a girl? Should we start calling him "Grahamica"?

0: Thank you to those of you on twitter who informed me that was Graham's sister Michaela in the girly outfit. Order is restored to the universe.

0: Footage show that Danica and Milka had a little side by side incident on the track during practice just as they did last year. Sadly, no post-practice discussion involving towels this year. Don't hate me but I was kinda hoping they'd go after each other with folding chairs this time.

0: At some point this pre-race show turns into an actual race, right?

0: On a personal note my offspring, all fans of various (winless) AGR drivers, have just informed me they are all on the Justin Wilson bandwagon today. I'm sure they aren't alone, especially since the the man they lovingly call "Freakishly Large" is starting in the front row next to "BOOOO! Briscoe".

0: Graphic shows Scott Dixon has 19 career open-wheel wins. AJ Foyt has over 60. 'Nuff said.

0: I think some librarian just plainly stated "drivers start your engines". Get that woman some MonaVie!

0: And starting on the backstretch ??? we are GREEN!

1: Briscoe leads the field, followed by Wilson, Dixon, Dario, Rahal.

2: Tony Kanaan has a little braking issues at "the keyhole" and does a little off-roading. Avoids hitting the tires or stalling the car, so the "TiKi Torch" soldiers on.

4: Not much passing happening, althbough Graham Rahal has done a little lawn mowing here and there. Still in 5th with Helio well beind as the front five start to pull away.

6: After running up all in his attenuator for most of the race, Justin Wilson pulls up alongside of Ryan Briscoe, noses beyond, and...got him! Dale Coyne car "flips the script" and takes the lead.

8: Justin is now up by over two seconds. SEE YA!

10: Wilson now ahead by nearly four seconds. He's not a "road course specialist", he's a "road course ass whoopin' machine".

13: On a side note, Servia is 11th while Doornbos is 16th. If you're not paying attention to that I'm pretty sure folks at HVM and NHL are.

16: Wilson by over fives seconds, making it look easy. According to Dale Coyne he's also conserving fuel. Probably brewing some tea in the cockpit as well. Politely lapping Milka - the first lapped car of the day.

19: And now in the span of about 30 seconds Briscoe, Dixon, Dario, Rahal all lap Milka. It looks like she just pitted a lap ago, so she's been lapped TWICE so far.

24: Leaders should be making pit stops soon, so we'll see if Wilson's massive lead holds up.

26: Just noticed that Dan Wheldon is in 20th, the last car on the lead lap and one spot ahead of Milka. These road courses may have completely killed his career.

28: Paul Tracy is all up on Viso for 8th. This is gonna be awesome...and we cut away??? Ack! Wilson pits and surrenders the lead.

30: Helio and Rahal made pit stops. Apparently Tracy got around Viso. Would have been nice to see some passing.

31: Briscoe and Dario pit, and coming out Wilson gets around them.

32: Scott Dixon - the current leader - pits, exits, and is promptly passed by Wilson. Because Justin is that awesome.

35: Gil de Ferran on screen talking about his soon to be IndyCar team and Jack Arute drops a new name on him: Will Power.

36: Dixon is hanging in there, less than car length behind Wilson.

37: Milka Duno sets a nice pick on Wilson and Dixon gets around them both and takes the lead. It's not enough to be slow, now Milka has to help Dixon to the lead. Time to start throwing things.

41: YELLOW! Helio loses the rear of the car and slides into the dirt, then pulls back out. So why do we have a full course yellow?

42: Dixon, Wilson, Briscoe, Dario, Rahal. Hunter-Reay is in 6th in an AJ Foyt car.

44: Back to GREEN, and in the first turn Rahal gets around Dario for fourth. Rahal feeling the hometown love.

45: YELLOW! Danica is sliding backwards in the dirt. Car is covert in dust. Such a dirty little girl. Replay shows she was totally punted by Conweas, err, Conway.

47: And Danica is dragged out of the bunker, re-fired, and on her way a couple laps down. Could use a car wash though.

49: And once again we go GREEN, but with no passing this time. Mike Conway has to serve a driver-through penalty, though he's still getting the better end of the deal because he's well ahead of Danica.

52: Dixon is now leading Wilson by over a second. That giant sucking sound you hear is the fun leaving the track.

56: Milka is now FOUR laps down, even with the yellows.

59: Dixon ahead by SIX seconds over Wilson.

60: Mutoh is in 7th? When...how.. did this happen??!?

61: Rahal pits for the final time today, moving Hyphen Reay to 5th.

62: Hunter-Reay pits, putting Mutoh in the Top 5. Hideki is in the Top 5 and we haven't seen him all day.

63: Wilson pits, but appears to go REALLY slow entering the pits. Gets fuel and tires and STALLS the car!!! Gets it back together but not before he makes a 30 second pit stop. Others pitting and leaving around him. Much wailing and lamentation by fans of the underdog.

64: Dixon pits, six point something seconds and he's back out. Still leading, but now Marco is in second. Briscoe in third. Marco still needs to make another put stop so don't get too excited.

65: Justin Wilson has dropped back to 15th. Dixon, Andretti, Briscoe, Dario, Rahal. Hunter-Reay and Mutoh appear to be a few tenths of a second apart, battling for 6th, so that might be kinda nice to watch Mr Broadcast Director.

69: We have been informed that Scott Dixon, now leading by 10 seconds over Marco and 13 seconds over Briscoe. And he's run the fastest lap of the race. And I might go make myself a sandwich.

70: Graham goes dirt tracking, but does not stall and gets back on the track.

71: Coochie Cam. This would be more meaningful if the drivers had to touch the clutch to shift gears. But they don't, so it's not. At least to me.

73: Milka appears to have been finally parked. From @DiecastDude
76: Marco has made a pit stop, and now the leaders are Ganassi, Penske, Ganassi. Hunter-Reay and Mutoh round out the Top 5.

77: Finally we see Mutoh. Right behind Hunter-Reay, battling for fourth. Meanwhile we can clearly see VItor Meira sitting in the pits next too AJ. Seeing Vitor is probably the best thing I've seen all day. No witty comment required.

79: Dario trying to pass Briscoe, with both of them doing a little sideways dirt track action. Still no passing though as they run in 2nd and 3rd about a day and a half behind Scott Dixon.

82: And...not much happening. I'm sure you'll be thrilled to learn that Wilson is back up to 13th. Also, Servia 11th and Doornbos 14th.

84: White flag, symbolic of how much more we can take of watching Dixon lead by 27 seconds (literally).

85: And it's win #20 for Scott Dixon. Let's wait for the others...waiting...still waiting...and it's Briscoe with Dario still stuck behind him. Then Hunter-Reay and Mutoh.

Congrats to Scott Dixon and his entire Ganassi team. They pretty much flawless today. Briscoe is in second yet again, because that's something he does well - finish in second to Ganassi cars.

Kudos also to Hunter-Reay and Mutoh for valiant Top 5 finishes today. Take what you can get while the Big Two continue to invade podiums all across North America.

The next race will be in Sonoma at Infineon Raceway, where your humble host will be LIVE on the scene. But that's two weeks from now, so in the meantime, take care and drive safely. Thank you very much, and good night.